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Tmobile rate change, cancel, port?

N

nycwahoodem

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 11, 2008
3
0
I tried searching for this to no conclusive answer so I'm posting it.

I am going to cancel my tmobile, because of their rate change to void the ETF, and then switch to att and iphone.

I'm curious the correct order. Given that tmobile will put up a fight, I'm sure. I don't want to start ATT till I know tmobile is cancelled with a note for no ETF. However, i need to keep my number.

Will tmobile, if i tell them i want to cancel on a certain date or at the end of my current bill, keep that open until I port to att. I imagine they will put the ETF and all service charges on, then credit the ETF.

Thoughts? Experiences? Cheese?
 
Just go to at&t and port your number. Then if T-Mo sends you an ETF you call them and tell them to shove it for changing their terms of service. Done.

TEG
 
thanks

that was my general plan.

i'm still cautious about them pulling some "we sent out the notice 15 days ago." It's bullsh*t as I got it 7 days ago, but if they stand their ground, am I not screwed? I'd rather know I had convinced them to waive the ETF
 
AFAIK, you can only cancel without an ETF if the rate change has affected your bill in some way (e.g. - you don't have a text messaging plan, or you went over your allotted num. of texts and had to pay for overages).

If you do have a texting plan, just go over the monthly allotted number of texts ASAP, call them to cancel and they won't be able to argue that the text messaging rate change hasn't affected your contract.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5A347 Safari/525.20)

You can cancel the tmo contract then switch to tmo prepaid. Once you are sure of all the charges, then cancel fully and port. It's a pain yes but then you don't have to deal with he said she said later
 
You can call T-Mobile 1st to tell them to note that you shouldn't have to pay the ETF if you cancel because of the rate change. If they agree, then set up a date with them on which to cancel your service. Then take your time and get the port done with AT&T before your service with T-Mobile ends.

If they don't budge and give you some lie about no overages in the past 3 months, tell them it's not part of your contract that you signed.

File a complaint with the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and T-Mobile will respond within a couple of days, completely succumbing to your will. T-Mobile will most likely waive your ETF and apologize, etc.

Check out this thread and take the time to look through all of it to plan out your strategy before you make the call to T-Mobile. You want to make sure you know what you're doing and talking about with the reps.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=397067&t=854323
 
Word of warning... you can only transfer a number from an active account. So if you cancel the T-Mobile first, you will lose your old number.

I would suspect if you buy the iPhone first, then transfer the number (which automatically stops your T-Mobile account), you are going to get hit with the termination fee.

You are going to have to figure out which is more important to you -- your old number or the money.
 
here's what I did. in the morning, called t-mo. I told them I want to cancel and reminded them of their change of terms. sure enough, the rep completely understood and I did not encounter any resistance from her. after a few minutes, she told me the whole process was complete. I made sure twice that I would not be charged an ETF. she assured me that I will not be paying an ETF. I also told her to hold my account, not cancel, so I could port it later on. then I asked for her employee number. don't assume you'll have a difficult time canceling.

I went to the apple store at noon and the the apple person completed the whole porting process for me.

it was so easy. half an hour after I left the apple store, my old sim was deactivated and I had a brand new iPhone 3G.

this was all in one day.
 
thanks

thanks for the help everyone.

I talked to a wonderful CSR at tmobile (seriously made me think twice about leaving), who understood why I was leaving, and set it up, with a note and gave me her name and number, so that my contract will end in a week or when i port. I just have to call and confirm they credit the ETF as the note promises.

Now if i could just find a damn iphone. getting one here in nyc is insane. I went at 9am today and there were 50 people in line. how is that possible? it's been like a month?
 
My dad tried to call and cancel for this reason a few days ago. They said that we received the notice two months ago, and we only have 14 days from notice to get out without paying the ETF. Strike 1. They then basically told us to shove it and hung up on us. On top of that, they've been charging one of our lines for texts when we have had a plan on it for more than a year; they said the plan was "misplaced" :confused:. Strike 2. After they hung up on us, I located the last few bills, and lo and behold, NO notice. I'm so surprised :mad:. So I filed a BBB complaint a couple of days ago, and hopefully T-mo will let us get out.
 
Call back and demand to speak with a supervisor. The 14 day thing may be correct but I have no idea. The BBB thing probably won't do anything, but it's worth a shot.
 
StoneColdSober said:
Call back and demand to speak with a supervisor. The 14 day thing may be correct but I have no idea. The BBB thing probably won't do anything, but it's worth a shot.
Click to expand...

We did that the first time we called, and then eventually got forwarded to the account specialist. They basically hosed us for $500 over the two years and refused to refund us, but at this point we just want out without having to pay 2 ETF's. No doubt they've flagged our account so other reps know not to help us. From what I've read, BBB complaints are very effective for this type of thing; they have two weeks to reply. T-Mobile used to be fine, but we've gotten screwed one too many times.
 
I would call back and demand to speak with the call center manager (I worked at a call center and there are multiple levels of management and often when you ask for a supervisor the first time you just end up with a slightly more senior rep). If that doesn't work then get a contact email address for someone in the corporate office and shoot off an email demanding a resolution to the issue.

Where I worked we had what were called "presidential escalations." These were issues that made it all the way to the top and the person that was handling them had pretty much unlimited authority (it was never the president of the company obviously) and the point was to get the issue resolved so the customer would drop any further complaints.

I don't know how much your ETF is going to be but you have to decide how much of your time this issue is worth. If you keep calling in and demanding to speak with someone with higher authority you may get what you want but it is not a simple or short process and may take many hours of your time to accomplish.

Good luck whatever route you choose.
 
StoneColdSober said:
I would call back and demand to speak with the call center manager (I worked at a call center and there are multiple levels of management and often when you ask for a supervisor the first time you just end up with a slightly more senior rep). If that doesn't work then get a contact email address for someone in the corporate office and shoot off an email demanding a resolution to the issue.

Where I worked we had what were called "presidential escalations." These were issues that made it all the way to the top and the person that was handling them had pretty much unlimited authority (it was never the president of the company obviously) and the point was to get the issue resolved so the customer would drop any further complaints.

I don't know how much your ETF is going to be but you have to decide how much of your time this issue is worth. If you keep calling in and demanding to speak with someone with higher authority you may get what you want but it is not a simple or short process and may take many hours of your time to accomplish.

Good luck whatever route you choose.
Click to expand...

Our total ETF would be $400. Ouch. Basically, my dad called once, and he thought it was a complete waste of time and doesn't want to call again; he nearly blew his stack on the phone. I'd call, but I don't know if they would help me since I'm not the primary account holder. If they would, perhaps I'd try (I know a little more about the situation than him). I'm going to wait and see if the BBB clears this up before taking further action. Thanks for that suggestion, though. I'll keep it in mind.
 
Get permission from your dad and when you call in tell T-Mo you are him (if you aren't comfortable doing this, have him call and tell them he gives permission for them to speak with you and to make any necessary changes on the acount). They will probably ask for the last 4 of his social (unless there is a password on the account instead), have this information ready and be prepared to play the role. Stay calm and polite but be firm and demanding.

Just make sure your dad is aware you are calling and is okay with you doing this.
 
StoneColdSober said:
Get permission from your dad and when you call in tell T-Mo you are him (if you aren't comfortable doing this, have him call and tell them he gives permission for them to speak with you and to make any necessary changes on the acount). They will probably ask for the last 4 of his social (unless there is a password on the account instead), have this information ready and be prepared to play the role. Stay calm and polite but be firm and demanding.

Just make sure your dad is aware you are calling and is okay with you doing this.
Click to expand...

He wanted me to call in the first place :p If things don't go through with the BBB, I will call. Thanks for the help.
 
Just an update: T-Mobile called today, asked what numbers were still on contract, and said, "you are out." If you're having problems legitimately getting out, file with the BBB.
 
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